Among the individuals affected by the devastating August floods have been artists who, in addition to returning to some sort of normalcy, are hoping to reestablish creative spaces and replenish collections that grew smaller due to damage.  

Nearly a mile from the Amite River off the O’Neil Lane exit in Baton Rouge, Rosemary Goodell’s home and studio fell victim to the area’s historic flooding.

She was visiting her daughter and grandchildren in New York, helping them settle into their new home, when her husband called to advise her to postpone her return to Louisiana.

“My husband said, ‘You’re not going to have a place to stay,’” Goodell said.

Goodell canceled the plane tickets and her grandchildren’s planned visit before the start of the school year.

She is but one of scores of artists who are struggling to salvage their paintings and begin anew.

Goodell said she returned to Louisiana on Aug. 22, nearly a week after the initial flooding began. As she rode home from the airport with a friend, the two discussed the damage to her studio. Goodell began to cry.  

“I didn’t want to do that,” Goodell said. “You just have to say what it is, is what it is and go forward. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

The interior of her home and studio were flooded with five feet of water.  

Aside from the damage, Goodell’s efforts to salvage artwork on paper proved to be unsuccessful. Her personal prints, paintings, sketchbooks and studio equipment were all ruined. She also lost work in her collection from other artists and personal records that were on her computers.

However, Goodell was able to save some paint and framed pieces. Despite the loss, she said she’s excited to see what new opportunities may come.

“The other day, I thought about making sun prints because I have the materials for that,” she said. “I had gotten them for my granddaughters. It’s a tiny step, but that’s work that I could do. You have to think out of the box — or out of the studio.”

But Goodell isn’t alone.   

Baton Rouge artist Van Wade-Day, who is an artist member at the Baton Rouge Gallery with Goodell, received roughly 10 inches of water in her University Hills home and studio.

Wade-Day is working to get back into her home as soon as possible but noted that, compared to Goodell, she hardly lost anything.  

“She’s been very brave,” Wade-Day said of Goodell. “We’ll be back. We’ll be OK.”

Down the road in Denham Springs, resident and artist Chad Schoonmaker went to sleep Aug. 12 expecting the rain puddle in his backyard to remain just that. However, a 4 a.m. wake-up call in the form of dripping water was the beginning of a long recovery process.  

Schoonmaker and his wife, Allison, scrambled to move their belongings and canvases from his at-home studio to higher ground as water rushed through the back door.  

Around 6 a.m., they loaded clean laundry and their 2-year-old son, Sam, in the car and headed to a friend’s house, leaving behind nearly all their belongings and some artwork.  

Two evacuations later, Schoonmaker said he and a friend trekked through water to return home, eager to assess the situation.

“It smelled really bad,” Schoonmaker said. “The water was flowing and there was a strong current.”

The family’s efforts to salvage its belongings were no match for the four-and-a-half feet of water that ravaged their home. Aside from ruined belongings, Schoonmaker said the eight pieces of art he left behind were damaged, noting the pieces hanging on the wall bared a watermark from being partially immersed in water for days.

“The water was disgusting and brown, but [some] of my [art] pieces were floating. They were super bright and colorful. It was this little hopeful reminder that life is still OK,” Schoonmaker said.

Schoonmaker said everyone has been kind in the aftermath, including his friend and fellow artist Kimberly Meadowlark, who cleaned and restored some of his work.

Meadowlark said when she learned of Schoonmaker’s damage, she immediately wanted to help however she could. She was bringing cleaning supplies to the family when Schoonmaker asked her to temporarily store some of his work, which eventually led to its restoration.

“[My boyfriend and I] brought [the artwork] back to a point where he could sell them immediately to raise needed money,” she said.  

In the weeks following the flood, Schoonmaker said he and his family learned to mourn the loss of their home.  

“It’s just sheetrock and studs,” Schoonmaker said. “But it was ours. It was the house we bought when we got married and the first house we brought Sam to.”

In Baker, Charles Barbier, another artist member at the Baton Rouge Gallery, received 16 inches of water in his home but was able to save most of his work.

Barbier, like many of the affected artists, maintains a positive outlook.

“Things are going to get better,” he said. “This is Louisiana. People are tough.”  

In an effort to help flood-affected individuals get back on their feet, people like Baton Rouge artist Jade Brady are getting creative.  

Brady’s benefit, RISE, will allow artists to sell their own work and donate a portion of the proceeds to flood-affected individuals, including artists, or to an organization of their choosing.

“I can’t donate a bunch of money or go to the store and buy a bunch of supplies,” Brady said. “But I have a skill that I can put to use.”

So far, Brady said she has 11 artists, skilled in a variety of mediums, participating, including Schoonmaker.

The benefit will take place Oct. 14 at 8116 One Calais Ave. from 6-9 p.m.

The Baton Rouge Gallery also has set up a fundraiser for artists Goodell, Wade-Day, Barbier and Michael W. Howes, gallery executive director Jason Andreasen said.
“This is just a small way for us and art supporters in the area and beyond to lend their support to those artists,” he said.